Italeri 1/32 F-86F

[jiawei_91]

Hey guys, I was surfing through Italeri's website just now, and on the "new releases" section, there is a 1/32 F-86F Sabre. Is it a new tooling, a retool, or rebox? Is it the same tool as kinetic's sabre? How does it build up?

I didn't know Italeri made 1/32 Sabres. Pretty interesting news to me, thus the questions.

Thanks!

Lim

[j-basset]

jiawei,

It is actually the Kinetic 1/32 F-86F Sabre reboxed by Italeri with new decals.

[Kei Lau]

jiawei,

It is actually the Kinetic 1/32 F-86F Sabre reboxed by Italeri with new decals.

Why does the Italeri Sabre cost twice as much as the Kinetic one? What's the difference between these kits?

[Lock n' Load]

New Decals

[Jennings]

Why does the Italeri Sabre cost twice as much as the Kinetic one?

Because it says "Italeri" on the box. Those guys have lost their minds. They're buying bagged shots from other companies (and thus not amortizing any of the development or tooling costs), and charging Trumpeter prices for them.

J

[jiawei_91]

Ah thanks. At least I know what to avoid.

[Matt Roberts]

Italeri is the Hasegawa of European companies pricing wise. I have heard that the rebox of the Accurate Miniatures B-25 is going for around $100 USD and the 'ok' toolings of the new Italian WW II fighters are going for $55 (MC 200 and Re 2001) it will be a very long time before I buy anything in an Italeri box, they seem to be priced about twice what they 'should' be going for. My last purchase was the CR 42 and I waited until my LHS marked it down to around $30 before buying it, nice kit but not worth $50+

[loftycomfort]

I actually bought the Italeri 1/32 F-86F at slightly less than MSRP. Yes I know it's overpriced, but I really like that decal sheet with the big dragon on it.

Terry

[Andre]

Italeri is the Hasegawa of European companies pricing wise. I have heard that the rebox of the Accurate Miniatures B-25 is going for around $100 USD and the 'ok' toolings of the new Italian WW II fighters are going for $55 (MC 200 and Re 2001) it will be a very long time before I buy anything in an Italeri box, they seem to be priced about twice what they 'should' be going for. My last purchase was the CR 42 and I waited until my LHS marked it down to around $30 before buying it, nice kit but not worth $50+

For US citizens, the euro vs dollar ratio will also have something to do with it.

Cheers,

Andre

[leverancier]

They are only slightly more expensive here in europe.

[jbrundt]

Why does the Italeri Sabre cost twice as much as the Kinetic one? What's the difference between these kits?

MRC is the US importer for Italeri. That explains the pricing.....

[Jennings]

MRC is the US importer for Italeri. That explains the pricing.....

Actually, in this case that's only partly true. Italeri prices in Euros are ridiculously high as well. MRC doesn't do them any favors, for sure, but they're guilty at the origination end as well.

J

[Kei Lau]

Why does the Italeri Sabre cost twice as much as the Kinetic one? What's the difference between these kits?

So far, everyone seemed to agree that the only differences are in decals and price. No difference in plastic or add-on part.

[Julien (UK)]

Even here in the UK it is the same,

Kinetic F-86 - £29.99

Italeri Sabre - £42.50

go figure!

Julien

[jbrundt]

I had a marketing class back in the day and we discussed pricing.

For example we talked about Johnnie Walker scotch and why it's so expensive. It's no different than any other scotch except in price. Johnnie Walker sales were flat and abysmal and they tried to figure out how to increase them.

The solution?

Raise the price.

Consumers think that if the price is higher then somehow the product must be better. Very strange psychology but it does work.....but mostly for niche markets and items where subjectivity and opinion plays a key role in how the product is viewed by the consumer.

Perhaps Italeri feels that a higher price will make the buyer think their kit is better when in fact it is no different and is just a reboxing. Time will tell if their marketing strategy works.

[loftycomfort]

I had a marketing class back in the day and we discussed pricing.

For example we talked about Johnnie Walker scotch and why it's so expensive. It's no different than any other scotch except in price. Johnnie Walker sales were flat and abysmal and they tried to figure out how to increase them.

The solution?

Raise the price.

Consumers think that if the price is higher then somehow the product must be better. Very strange psychology but it does work.....but mostly for niche markets and items where subjectivity and opinion plays a key role in how the product is viewed by the consumer.

Perhaps Italeri feels that a higher price will make the buyer think their kit is better when in fact it is no different and is just a reboxing. Time will tell if their marketing strategy works.

Agreed. But raising the price alone won't work. This must be a multi-faced approach including advertising, packaging and whatnot.

I suppose the "The Huff" dragon decal sheet is their way of differentiating themselves from the Kinetic kits (heck, I fell for it), but I wish they'd ship the kits in sturdier and top-opening boxes, not those stupid end-opening boxes.

Terry